Boston Bombing: the Story of Father and Son

Update 6/30/2015: Photos added at 0:39, 0:45 and 1:12. See here.
Update 4/27/2015: Three photos at 3:20-4:20 removed because of lack of authenticity. See here.
Update 4/27/2015: Photo at 4:42 changed to 4:41 after preciser comparison with Fred Land video
Update 4/20/2015: Photo at 4:23 changed to 4:21 after preciser comparison with Fred Land video
Update 3/22/2015: Photo at 0:37 changed to 0:35 after comparison with exhibit photos from the trial
Update 9/1/2014: Photos at 2:20 changed to 2:26; second photo substituted by a more wide-angle shot.
Update 5/14/2014: Photo added at 4:42.
Update 4/6/2014: Photo at 0:09 changed to 0:07 after comparison with Fred Land video.
Update 3/29/2014: Photo added at 0:09.
Update 3/29/2014: Photo at 0:12 changed to 0:13 after thorough examination.
Update 10/15/2013: Two photos added at 4:30 and 4:35, with Father and Son being outside of the captured area.
Update 10/6/2013: Photo at 0:23 changed to 0:19; Photo at 0:40 changed to 0:37; Photo at 0:45 changed to 0:42; better determination possible because photographer was identified on Fred Land Video. 
Update 10/4/2013: New photo added at 4:23 after blast.

This photo shows a man and a boy, apparently father and son, near the Forum crime scene a few seconds or minutes after the explosion of the second bomb.

The couple is easily identifiable on many photos of the immediate aftermath of the second blast. It also shows up on a video with firefighter and first aider Matt Patterson. The father wears a black jacket, a blue jeans slit by shrapnel, sneakers with a salient color, and he's carrying a backpack. The son wears a grey hoodie and dark-colored tracksuit pants with white stripes, and sometimes a yellow shirt shows through under the hoodie. The father's legs are slightly bleeding, but he doesn't seem to be seriously injured.

The man and the boy are premium witnesses for clarifying the pending questions regarding the second bomb. There is much speculation about their identity, but I will avoid this aspect for now and discuss it after the timeline. For convenience I refer to them simply as Father and Son, with the caveat that this term might possibly not reflect their actual relation.

By matching the photos with the available videos, most notably the Fred Land video, it is in most cases possible to determine the time of their creation to the second. This allows for a meticulous reconstruction of the couple's activities, resulting in a timeline which is outlined below. In addition to the pictures I've already featured on this blog,  I'll refer to an extensive photographic collection of the website allthingsforum1.blogspot.com. Unfortunately, the website does not list the original URL of the photos, which doesn't enhance their traceability (and therefore authenticity). This is an important aspect because we do have to reckon with tampered or outright faked photos. So if possible, I will add the original URL to the photos. Fortunately, in most cases the Fred Land video serves as an unfallible tool to verify their authenticity.

There are three videos about the Forum blast which help determine the exact time of the photo shootings. It is possible to synchronize them:

-  The Fred Land video begins at 1:00 minutes prior to the blast.

-  The David Green video with Matt Patterson is unfortunately available in redacted form only. However, by matching it with the Fred Land video it can be determined that it begins 1:08 after the blast (2:08 in the Fred Land video) and ends 1:38 after the blast.

-  The Daniel Robert video begins at 2:39 minutes after the blast (3:39 in the Fred Land video). At 0:56, you hear a fire truck honking; the same honk can be heard at 4:35 in the Fred Land video, thus enabling a synchronization of the two videos.

To make the moves of the couple comprehensible, I've added a diagram to some of the photos. Father, Son and the child they care for are represented by a big red F, S, and C. Matt Patterson and Mike Chase, the first aiders whom they met, are represented by a black MP resp. MC. The barriers are numerated, and it is sketched if they are toppled; the trees are represented by green circles, the poles by black circles. Before the blast, the scene looks like this:

Timeline of Father and Son 

The times indicate minutes:seconds after the second blast; adding 1 minute yields the time of the Fred Land video. If not stated otherwise, the times are exact up to 1 second.
 

0:07  Father is in the middle of Boylston Street, covering his ears (see here).

http://www.davidsilvermanphotography.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSP_1616.jpg

 

0:13  Father is about to erect barrier 4 which was hit by a crowd and toppled onto some people. Son is 3 meters left of him, the crowd in between.

http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1836529.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Second-Boston-bomb.jpg

0:19  Father has erected barrier 4. Son is still 3 meters left of him.

http://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2014/04/IMG_9456-copy.jpg

0:30  Father and Son are together, embracing each other.

http://cryptome.org/2013-info/04/boston-bombs/pict90.jpg

0:35  Father has a little child on his arm (in front of the tree, difficult to recognize).

http://i.imgur.com/1oMK9TH.jpg

0:39  

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmB84G4tXt2pFJKNW-U-vqKfxzFaHyyy1OujO5-qZB4kIqFOiRGOrJEHevfm3IhkiiPn1hZ5IuOZuf7SFCsFiFTccTAfeA6K7QK2h8npOFix2La2hPJjOH_vvBJcqrLViKBf-f/s1600/ajcihijj-790005.jpg

0:42  Father carries the heavily maimed child away from the Forum onto the street. Son is with him.

http://i1.wp.com/jonguess.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/jambe-arrachée.jpg

0:45

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LcaxsqKLSiN6OJuMaaDXOZNYMywNTV9l4L0nsRMFDlm_WzIuVPrOYKI-hjxujAzK-iWgfqfNf2SZCTdz1XvfCsQxQFbCwvKMYzcewZXhn95vNK01OFLl4X5xfHoQSVG0w7Hb/s1600/ecjfcgjg-711001.jpg

 
0:58  Father is seen cowering or sitting on the street (in the background between the woman with the red trousers and the man left of hers).

http://images.smh.com.au/2013/04/16/4195833/marathon169.jpg

1:02   Matt Patterson (red shirt) and three other men have arrived at the place where Father and Son have laid down the child onto the street, vis a vis the Atlantic Fish restaurant (leftmost).

http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297404504671_ORIGINAL.jpg

1:12  Matt Patterson has achieved a belt and begins to apply a tourniquet.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbaTfXHLTlwPndA20sdNvCWXwT4QmDfnh3RDJ2M6vVCPW4bxzMxUb1iLkgLKVVToSL6izfPpPBKjYTC8PLtdiPJp1ORB_9IsPhEBDnkyIq_Qy-D_sMtyruYC_0g61y7xOFPaW/s1600/bm-image-785643.jpeg

1:20  While the three other men quickly leave again, probably for organizing help, Matt Patterson gets a belt from someone on the sidewalk (at this moment barriers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 topple over) and makes a tourniquet for the child.  On the right side, Father is sitting on the ground. Son is covered by him.

Source: David Green video

1:38  The tourniquet is ready.  Mike Patterson, Father and Son stand up. Mike Chase (blue shirt) has joined the group.

Source: David Green video

1:43 (+- 3 sec) Matt Patterson and Mike Chase carry the child away. Father and Son are visible rightmost in the photo,  turning their attention back to the Forum scene.

http://bostonherald.com/sites/default/files/styles/default/public/media/2013/04/16/041613patterson.jpg

1:58  Mike Chase (blue shirt, black pants) is still on Boylston street, in the left half of the photo.  Father and Son are covered by the firefighter in the foreground.

http://i.imgur.com/tiGLfWeh.jpg

2:00  Father and Son are standing together on Boylston Street, beside Mike Chase - now he's the one who is covered, but his bare legs are visible.

http://i.imgur.com/77NaqwCs.jpg

2:07  Father and Son are standing beside Matt Patterson, just right of the fire truck ("Ladder 17", who just arrives, turning into Boylston Street from Fairfield Street). It's obvious from the last three pictures that Patterson and Chase have handed off the child to other people.

http://i.imgur.com/SWgxDyPh.jpg

2:26  Father and Son are leaning over barrier 4 and watch how first aiders treat injured people on the sidewalk in front of the Forum. The two photos seem to have been shot at the very same second. In the first photo leftmost the back of Father is visible. Both photos show the policeman carrying the little child away.

http://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2014/04/IMG_9486-copy.jpg

http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/sites/default/files/mediaimages/gallery/2013/Apr/Boston blast 17.jpg

 

 2:30   Father and Son still at barrier 4, but no longer lean over it.

http://i.imgur.com/6Te46Mbh.jpg

2:35  From the same photographer, about 5 seconds later. Father and Son are gone and nowhere to be seen. Apparently they have exited the photographer's field of view on the left side.

http://cryptome.org/2013-info/04/boston-bombs/pict13.jpg

4:21  Father and Son in the middle of Boylston Street with a law enforcement officer, in front of the fire truck.

http://dc595.4shared.com/img/WZAfUQR2/s7/13e3a7f9580/blosserbostonjpg-b87faa8669558.jpg

4:30 (+- 2 sec)  Father and Son are not visible; they are in the area left of the photo, most probably in the middle of Boylston Street.

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/ksoo.com/files/2013/04/Jackie1.jpg

4:35  (+- 3 sec) From the same photographer (Jackie Bruno?), seconds later; Father and Son are left of the area covered by the photo. 

http://www.motherjones.com/files/BH6ju2NCMAAzhqs.jpg_large.jpg

4:41  Firetruck "Ladder 15" just crosses the street from its first position to its final place just opposite the Forum. Father and Son are recognizable, arm in arm as always, just left of the firetruck and the man in the red jacket at the barrier.

5:06 - 5:16  The Fred Land video shows Father and Son hurrying away from the scene. The picture is a snapshot taken at 6:08 in the video.

            


So much for the timeline of Father and Son. Now the question for their identity arises. Namely British newspapers fueled the speculation that they are Bill and Henry Richard, father and older brother of deceased Martin Richard. A Telegraph article from April 18th compares one of the last photos of Father and Son with the Richard family and equates their identities. The article is offline meanwhile, but I was able to catch a webpage referencing to it, including the headline and the photos.

http://www.news.nom.co/boston-marathon-martin-richard-s-father-news/

Despite the striking similarity between Father and Bill Richard there are overwhelming arguments that they are not the same person, likewise Son and Henry Richard.

Here are two other photos of the Richard Family: 

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/04/16/article-2309545-1952F434000005DC-435_964x721.jpg

Both of the pictures show that Bill Richard is a tall man, distinctly bigger than Father. Just to the contrary, Henry looks smaller and younger than Son. Especially the difference of the body sizes of Father and Son on the one side and Bill and Henry Richard on the other side makes clear that they are different persons.

Additionally, while the faces of Father and Bill Richard look similar, Father's hair is completely different - it's curly and has a brighter color:

This photo shows Bill Richard on 9/11/2013, holding a memorial address for the victims of 9/11:

http://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/bill-richard.jpg

Apart from the photos and videos, the behavior of Father and Son as sketched in the timeline is additional evidence that they are not identical to Bill and Henry Richard. Assumed they are identical: why are they not looking for Martin? Why are they not looking for mother Denise? Why do they leave the crime scene after five minutes without knowing what happened to them? This doesn't make sense.

It has also been suggested that the maimed little child was Jane Richard - despite early statements from Matt Patterson and Mike Chase that it was a boy. So assumed the child was Jane and Father and Son were Bill and Henry Richard - is it imaginable that they didn't attend her when she was being carried to the hospital? Certainly no. The only possible reason might be that they wanted to search for Martin and Denise - but, as already mentioned, they didn't do that.

I've argued here that the Richard family has not been at the Forum, and that Martin was not killed by the Forum bomb. The story of Father and Son definitely confirms that.

Boston Bombing Analysis: The Fred Land Video

Correction:  my original statement below that the second photo is faked is wrong. I identified the corresponding video snapshot at 1:20. The man wearing a black shirt and light-colored trousers who just jumped over the toppled barrier is visible in the photo. Because of the perspective of the photo, it's impossible to see the toppled barriers on it. The man with the white cap is obviously covered by other people.

Fred Land has recorded a private video from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is situated diagonally opposite the Forum. The video shows a segment of Boylstron Street near the Forum from 1 minute prior to the second explosion until 7 minutes after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq_nJl56LSg

This video has enjoyed virtually zero attention until now. This will certainly change because of its outstanding authenticity - a salute for Mr. Land on this occasion. It will not only help to establish a timeline for the aftermath of the second bomb, but also has the power to sort out fake photos which have continously contaminated the independent Boston Bombing investigations.

To illustrate the latter, I start with an example, with two photos I've already featured.

The two photos show Boylston Street seconds after the second blast from a similar perspective (Boylston Str./Fairfield Str. corner). On one photo, there is a mixed group with adults and children on the street, but it is not visible on the other - something that has kept bugging me. The Land Video delivers the solution.

In this photo there are two barriers toppled down onto the street, a policeman nearby, a man pushing a baby buggy on the sidewalk (far left in the picture), a  man completely in black crossing the street (walking away from the viewer) and some guys far right in the picture. All of them appear also at 1:30 in the video, 30 seconds after the blast - even the baby buggy. The photo is genuine. Here's the corresponding snapshot from the video:

In the next photo you see some children in the middle of Boylston Street, hurrying away from the Forum.

The children must inevitably have crossed the area that is captured by the video. But an attempt to spot them in the video fails. They never show up, neither seconds after the blast nor later. None of the barriers has toppled over yet which means that the photo must have been shot within 10 seconds after the blast - because the video shows the barriers going down at this time (1:10 in the video). But in the first seconds after the blast, the runners stop running and turn around, the street empties, and there's not one single child on Boylston Street, let alone a group of them.

The second photo is fake. This scene never happened. A delicate by-product is that this photo was accepted by the FBI, widely spread and supposed to demonstrate that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had just left the crime scene (he is visible at the far left). The photo is worthless.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Martin Richard

Update 10/5/2013: "A spokesman for the family said he was unable to confirm the identities of those in the marathon image or provide an update for Jane's condition given she is under a privacy order." Daily Mail, 4/23/2013

Update 9/21/2013: The  Fred Land video  eradicates the last doubts that the photo is fabricated. The blue runner must have passed the area covered by the video seconds before the second blast. But he is not there. The photo is a fake.

The violent death of Martin Richard, Lu Lingzi and Krystle Campbell has shocked the world, and the world will be reminded of it again in the coming trial against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The indictment accuses him of murdering Martin Richard and Lu Lingzi because they were allegedly killed by the Forum bomb:
                                                                 

Apart from the evidence that Tsarnaev's bag was not the second bomb however, presented in my previous blog entries, there are also serious doubts that the two deceased were victims of the Forum bomb at all. The evidence is murky, as I will show now for the case of Martin Richard.

Early reports locate Martin at the first bomb site:

Martin was killed in the first explosion as he waited to give his father a hug at the finishing line. His sister and mother were also injured.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2309545/Boston-bombings-2013-Devices-killed-including-Martin-Richard-Krystle-Campbell-used-terrorists-Afghanistan.html

Before the explosions, Martin gave his dad Bill Richard a hug at the finish line. Sadly, when Martin ran back to his mother, the first bomb exploded and killed him. Reports claims that his Martin’s mother was seriously injured — she underwent surgery for an injury on her brain on April 15, and Jane lost her leg.
 
http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/04/16/martin-richard-dad-statement-son-death-boston-marathon-explosion/

And here's an unambigous statement of firefighter Ed Kelly, interviewed by the Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen:

Their gruff lecture on fire safety and common sense was cut short when the first bomb exploded around the corner. “I know what a bomb sounds like,” he said. “We tore around the corner thinking we were going to find a fire. But there was no fire.”

Instead there were dozens of people spilled on the sidewalk. The firefighters worried about secondary bombs and biological weapons. But they dove into their work. “The first person I encountered was a woman. The bone was sticking out of her leg. Four inches in width, 10 inches in length. The femoral blood was a dark, dark red.”

A 12-year department veteran from Dorchester was right next to him, working through the victims in front of Marathon Sports. He saw a guy he knew from the neighborhood, Bill Richard. “I can’t find Denise,” Richard cried, referring to his wife.

The Richard family had been caught in the blast as they watched runners pass the finish line. Bill Richard and his son Henry avoided serious injury. But Denise Richard was hit in the head with shrapnel, and her 6-year-old daughter Janey lost part of her leg. Eight-year-old Martin Richard caught the full force of the explosion, and when the firefighter looked down at him, “I knew Marty was gone.”

Marty Richard was a third-grade classmate of the firefighter’s daughter. In fact, almost everyone on Engine 7 knew the Richards; the lieutenant’s kid was a classmate of one of the Richard kids.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/16/when-doing-your-job-more-than-doing-job/QOdqUtt5oeZREmbUmhhbJI/story.html

All of this indicates that the Richard family was at the first bomb site. However, here's a different story:

Representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts spoke on the story on Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, which differs from the accounts that state that Martin's father was running during the marathon: "The dad is a runner, but he wasn't running yesterday. They were there to support some of their friends who were running. The kids were all up on the barrier. They were all focused forward and the blast came from the back and the side."

http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/04/martin-richard-boston-bombing-victim-8-year-old/

While the last quote makes no mention of the whereabouts of the Richard family, the next one (quoting the same witness) explicitly states that the family was hurt by the second bomb:

Lynch said the family was attempting to get over the race barriers and into the street when the second blast occurred, killing Martin. Bill Richard and Henry Richard were not seriously injured, but doctors did remove ball bearings from Bill Richard's leg, Lynch said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/martin-richards-boston-marathon-remembering_n_3092890.html

There are some problems with this story, however. According to the complaint against Tsarnaev, there were no people climbing over the barriers at the second bomb site after the first explosion. All of them looked in the direction to the first blast - with the exception of Tsarnaev:  

Virtually every head turns east (towards the finish line) and stares in that direction, in apparent bewilderedness and alarm. Bomber Two, virtually alone among the individuals in front of the restaurant, remains calm.

The most striking "proof" for many that Martin was a victim of the Forum bomb is certainly this photo:

Tsarnaev's head is visible in the background and there is something like a bag at the metal barrier. This photo, whose origin is murky, appeared in several British newspapers at first and was quickly acclaimed as proof that Tsarnaev had just left his bomb bag and was about to flee the scene.

However, it is easy to see that the photo is a fake. Again a quote from the initial complaint:

He walks away without his knapsack, having left it on the ground where he was standing. Approximately 10 seconds later, an explosion occurs in the location where Bomber 2 had placed his knapsack.

Assumed the photo is genuine, it has to have been shot after the first explosion because Tsarnaev didn't walk off prior to it. However, not one single person turns his head toward the finish line. All of them are in good mood and cheering the runners. This is not only utterly implausible, it is also contradicted by the complaint which clearly states that "virtually every head stared to the finish line in apparent bewilderedness and alarm."

Additionally, the photos shot in the seconds after the blast don't verify that Martin had been standing on a metal barrier: the very same barrier was blown across the street, but Martin and Jane, his sister, are nowhere to see, neither at the barrier, nor somewhere on the street. Not one of the girls/women standing at the barrier is detectable in the post-explosion photos. And vice versa, noone of the injured people in the post-explosion photos is detectable in the alleged pre-explosion photo.

The photo with Martin Richard and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is not genuine. It is a fake, fabricated and dispersed in the obvious intention to paint Tsarnaev as Martin's murderer and create dull and ill-advised emotions. It fits into the already known pattern to make Dzhokhar Tsarnaev responsible for a crime he obviously didn't commit.

The Arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - Four Scenarios

                      source: Boston magazine

The recently published medical report for Dzohkhar Tsarnaev lists a number of heavy injuries; the most severe is a gunshot wound which "entered through the inside of his mouth", damaged his skull base, jaw and ear and exited through the neck. The report doesn't say if this wound was self-inflicted or not.

The above photo was shot by Sgt. Sean Murphy of the Massachussetts police and published by the Boston magazine on July 18th. It shows Tsarnaev at the boat, raising his hands to indicate surrender.

Taking this photo as a time stamp and confronting it with the medical report generates four possible scenarios:

1 - The wound was self-inflicted before the surrender
2 - The wound was self-inflicted after the surrender
3 - The wound was not self-inflicted and inflicted before the surrender
4 - The wound was not self-inflicted and inflicted after the surrender

Each scenario has its specific weaknesses and problems. But only one can be true. Probably the one with the least weaknesses and problems. The following reality check is in part based on my own considerations, in part on information obtained from E. F. Beall's firedoglake blog:

http://my.firedoglake.com/efbeall/2013/08/20/medical-report-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-was-shot-from-inside-his-mouth/

 

1 - The wound was self-inflicted before the surrender

Narrative: Tsarnaev tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the mouth. But he survived. After that, he decided to surrender. This version was promoted by John Miller, the FBI expert of CBS.

Plausibility problems:

-  No gun was found. Where's the gun?

-  His physical condition after the shot would not have allowed him to climb over the side of the boat and raise his hand for surrender.

-  The surrender photos show him in a passable physical condition apparently without a big gunshot wound in his head.

-  No motive to surrender: for what reason didn't he, after the attempted suicide, again try to shoot himself? He was still able to move his arms and legs.

2 - The wound was self-inflicted after the surrender

Narrative: After raising his hands for surrendering, he suddenly grabbed under his trouses, drew a gun and shot himself into the mouth.

Plausibility problems:

-  No gun was found or confiscated from him. Where's the gun?

-  On the surrender photo he is under tight control of the police. Several gun lasers are pointing at him. If he would undertake even the slightest attempt to draw something out of his clothing, he would be shot at once by a police sniper. No chance to put a gun into his mouth and fire.

3 - The wound was not self-inflicted and inflicted before the surrender

Narrative: When the police fired on the boat, one of the shots accidentally went through his mouth.
Update: An alternative narrative is that the wound was inflicted on him even hours before, during the Watertown shootout. CNN's Poppy Harlow subscribes to this theory.

Plausibility problems:

-  The probability that a bullet entered through his open mouth is extremely small. It implies that he had his mouth open and directed exactly towards the line of fire, resulting in a "magic bullet" story.

-  His physical condition after the shot would not have allowed him to climb over the side of the boat and raise his hands for surrender - let alone to flee from the Watertown shootout scene.

-  The surrender photos show him in a passable physical condition apparently without a big gunshot wound in his head.

4 - The wound was not self-inflicted and inflicted after the surrender

Narrative: He was shot in the mouth accidentally or intentionally by the police (or, unlikely, someone else) after the surrender.

Plausibility problems:

-  No motive for the police to shoot at someone who had already surrendered and was under control.

Boston Marathon: Transcript of Interview with Forum Employees

The following is the transcript of an interview with five Forum employees, aired on April 19th by NBC in Brian Williams' "Rock Center", recording date unknown. Apart from the introduction and the final remarks, I transcribed the entire interview. The interviewer is Harry Smith. I apologize for possibly spelling names wrong and transcription faults. The video is here:

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/51603262#51603262

For unknown reason Callie Benjamin, who also was working at the Forum and whose story was reported by several local newspapers, is not among the interviewees. Therefore I put her statement in front of the transcript to put it into perspective. I abstain from any comment for now, just to say that the reason I posted this interview is of course its relevance for the epicenter question.


"It sounded like a cannon or something," Benjamin said. "We didn't know what it was. An employee went to another window to see if something exploded and all of the sudden the second explosion went off and the windows shattered."

As customers began to panic, Benjamin yelled at them to stop running. She ushered them through the kitchen, down the back stairs and into an alley.

After that, she went to check on the main-floor dining room and patio. The explosion had blown people onto the main stairway, keeping her from getting there, but she saw the damage it caused. "There were a lot of people lying on the floor covered (in) glass and blood, a lot of glass and blood," Benjamin said.

After being blocked at the stairs, Benjamin saw her manager and an owner running down the back stairs. She asked what she could do to help and followed them to the basement.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/central-grad-helped-amid-chaos-of-nd-boston-marathon-explosion/article_1a084b8d-07b4-557e-b32a-b98575b3444d.html



SMITH: What was it like in the restaurant Monday morning?

CHRIS LOPER: It was exciting, you know. I remember getting in just before 8 o'clock, turning the music up and was just very upbeat, sunny day...

OFF: Chris Loper is the General manager of Forum, 200 yards from the Marathon finish line.

JULIE WHEATON: It was such a beautiful day, everone is excited for the Marathon to watch the race and for the Red Sox game...

OFF: Julie Wheaton is a former Forum bartender who came back to work just for Patriots' Day.

SMITH: What did you write on your Facebook page?

JULIE WHEATON: 6 o'clock in the morning I wrote: coming back for once, a last special stand to my favorite bar in my favorite city on my favorite day.

OFF: Noone had an inkling of what was about to happen. The restaurant and its patio up front were getting more crowded by the minute.

(video clip - first explosion)

SMITH: Where were you when you heard the first explosion?

JOSHUA GLOVER: I was two feet behind the host stand in the front of the restaurant. I thought it was a cannon, some sort of celebration, something or other...

OFF: Joshua Glover is an assistant manager. He says after the initial blast up the street most of the restaurant's patrons moved toward the front to try to figure out what was going on. It was the worst place they could be.

SMITH: Where were you when the first explosion happened?

JAMIS MADEIROS: Right in front by the VIP section. It kind of shook the building a little bit, and people all around me were pressing forward and turned their neck down the street to see what it was ...

OFF: James Madeiras is Forum's assistant GM. Before anyone could understand the nature of the source of the first explosion the second bomb blew up directly in front of the restaurant.

(video clip - second explosion)

SMITH: Second explosion happens. What's the first thing you remember?

JAMIS MADEIROS: I was looking right out. There's a mailbox right there. And I was looking at the mailbox when it blew up, so I saw the actual... just an orange fire, looked like a huge firecracker or something. You just see it blossoms. As lot as the first one was, the second I don't ever recall hearing it to be honest with you, I just remember the... my mouth was full of grit, I recall for some reason it was just like dirt or dust or something, like also my whole mouth was just gritty and dirty, you know I feel like "Oh my God, this is really happening!" - and just people falling, there's glass everywhere, so I was worried about people falling on the glass. And everybody is running towards the back, people ducked behind couches - it was just the most (unintelligible) scene I've ever seen. It was just chaos, it was crazy.

OFF: Heather Gilbow was also bartending that day.

HEATHER GILBOW: I remember it hitting me that it was something... someone was trying to hurt people, it was intentional, the second explosion. I remember screaming and then I remember getting my bearings and looking up and just seeing people run.

OFF: The able-bodied and the slightly injured rushed out the back exit, but not the employees. They stayed. They've seen a scene of carnage that was difficult to comprehend.

SMITH: July - does anything prepare you for witnessing what you witnessed?

JULIE WHEATON: No, no... you literally just... it's instinct... and you just go and do what you can to help people. The first thing what I did I checked on my friends that were on the ground and then I grabbed ice and towels... and then I went up to the front and that's when I saw... complete... you know... nightmare, massacre. There was blood, there was people on the street, on the sidewalks, you know, on the patio... you know... there is a body part here that I saw and there is something else over there, but there's so much blood and you don't stop and think you don't get yourself a chance to realize what is actually going on.

OFF: Forum employees became first responders.

CHRIS LOPER: The most injured people were out just in front of the patio, but because of the uncertainty there were people bringing them into the restaurant to try to aid them. There were members of our staff that were right there holding on to people, taking their belts off to stop, you know, bleeding and different things like that.

OFF: Many of the people the Forum staff helped were strangers. Others they knew well, quite well, like Julie's friend Heather Abbott.

JULIE WHEATON: She's actually in the hospital right now, she's getting a surgery today. They are trying to reattach her foot.

SMITH: All of it is so traumatic, but you have somebody you know, have a friend of yours, almost have...

JULIE WHEATON: I feel guilty.

SMITH: You feel guilty?

JULIE WHEATON: (begins to sob)

SMITH. Why do you feel guilty?

JULIE WHEATON: (still sobbing) Thinking that she's there and seeing me.

OFF: Forum became a makeshift triage center. Aiding and comforting the wounded was the only concern.

JAMIS MADEIROS: We talk about like what people did to help and you see like binding up the injuries and stuff like that. And my most enduring image is a bartender. He was sitting on the floor. He had an injured woman's head on his lap. He was stroking her hair, comforting her. And that to me was all she needed. In a horrible time it was a beautiful thing to see just something so simple.

SMITH: What makes you say: I'm staying here and help these people?

CHRIS LOPER: I think it's just human nature, it's the nature of the people that work at Forum. It's the nature of a lot of people from Boston. You see someone hurting and you want to help.

OFF: An instinct so strong that even when the were ordered to leave, noone botched.

CHRIS LOPER: It was funny. Once the police came in - I remember so vividly them saying "Everyone get out! Everyone get out!" And I was saying "No!" This was one of the few times when you could say that to a police officer. (chuckling)

SMITH: In language perhaps a little more colorful than that?

CHRIS LOPER: Perhaps a little more Bostonian and colored than that, yes Sir.

OFF: Only one former employee was seriously hurt, but he's doing fine. The reality of what happened Monday is still sinking in.

JAMIS MADEIROS: It's amazing to me that more people weren't killed by the explosions, it's amazing to me that more people aren't hurt. I look at the pictures and them crying out (unintelligible) I work, and I know that. There was nothing between me and that explosion. I don't know how - it didn't. I'm lucky I'm alive, I'm lucky I wasn't hurt, like these guys here aren't hurt... it's amazing.

JULIE WHEATON: You know at the end of the day after I had a chance to reflect on everything I was angry. I was so angry. You know - people took this great day, this great holiday, this amazing day, it's everyone's favorite day in Boston, and ruined it.

SMITH: Stunning to me to think: you really are at the heart of the terror, and you all stay. Are you heroes?

EMPLOYEES: No. No. No. No.

JAMIS MADEIROS: You know like some people (unintelligible). We were at the wrong place at the wrong time, but we did the right thing.